Ronan falls at Malta in Semifinals
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MALTA – The road to State ended early for the Ronan Chiefs football team Saturday when they fell to Malta on the road, 31-27. Despite losing by four to Malta, the Chiefs have a lot to hang their hats on.
This season the Chiefs finished with a solid 8-3 record, made it to the Semifinals, something that Ronan hasn’t been able to do since 1990, and they also had a stellar rushing season, collecting more than 3,000 yards on the ground.
“We capitalized on an early Malta turnover and turned it into the first score of the game,” head coach Jim Benn said. “We had difficulty getting our running game going in the early part of the game.”
Despite an early 21-point lead by Malta, Ronan rallied late in the game with a 3-yard run by Jake Skelton, followed by a 36-yard pass from Robbie Gauthier to Carsten Barch to only trail the Mustangs by four.
With the help of Gauthier, the Chiefs were able to claw their way back into the game throughout the third and fourth quarters. But during the Chiefs’ final drive down the field, Gauthier’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete in the end zone. Prior to the incompletion, Ronan had a touchdown called back due to a block in the back.
Gauthier capped off a solid season as the Chiefs’ quarterback, passing for 318 yards, 271 of which came in the second half on 22 of 28 passing. The Chiefs finished with 435 total yards on offense, while Malta collected 385.
Jack Humphreys started off the scoring by completing a 6-yard run for a touchdown. Jake Skelton put up a pair of scores with runs of 1 and 3 yards. Carsten Barch closed out the scoring for Ronan with a 36-yard reception from Gauthier.
“Our kids fought hard and put themselves in a position to win the game,” Benn said. “We had a touchdown called back down 27-31 and had our final pass called incomplete which was a very close call.”
SUMMARY
Malta 31, Ronan 27
Ronan 7 0 6 14 - 27
Malta 0 21 10 0 - 31
Ron - Jack Humphreys 6 run (Leo Michelin kick)
Mal - Kaden Bedwell 24 pass from Kendall Denham (Dalton Brookie kick)
Mal - Jade Olson 5 run (Brookie kick)
Mal - Olson 3 run (Brookie kick)
Mal - FG Brookie 37
Ron - Jake Skelton 1 run (kick failed)
Mal - Olson 61 run (Brookie kick)
Ron - Skelton 3 run (pass failed)
Ron - Carsten Barch 36 pass from Robbie Gauthier (Marcus Hungerford pass from Gauthier)
